Lucy M.
Yelp
I stumbled upon the Hudson River Sloop, a small 18th/19th century replica boat made by Peter Seeger in the late 1960's to help draw attention to the worsening conditions of the Hudson River by playing music and focusing on improving the rivers ecosystem as a whole, a blueprint other conservation groups have followed.
The sloop was hanging out by the Boat Basin off Riverside Park when I wandered in and got to speak to some of the volunteers who work there. They do school tours regularly, but also have tours open to the public and can be hired out for private events. The really cool part is not only do they offer the option to volunteer on the boat, but even if you're paying for a tour you get to actively participate in the actual sailing of the vessel, which takes a lot of work! It's a really unique experience, especially in this city where not many of us really get to interact with boats, much less understand how an older replica like this actually functions.
I also got to see and pet some of the wildlife that live in the Hudson, among them a clam. eel, and a little bottom feeder whose name I can't remember. See picture ;)